[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1344 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1344

To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide liability protections 
for volunteer practitioners at health centers under section 330 of such 
                                  Act.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 30, 2005

 Mr. Wyden (for himself and Mr. Durbin) introduced the following bill; 
     which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, 
                     Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Public Health Service Act to provide liability protections 
for volunteer practitioners at health centers under section 330 of such 
                                  Act.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Community Health Center Volunteer 
Provider Protection Act of 2005''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds as follows:
            (1) As there are over 45,000,000 individuals lacking health 
        insurance or who have inadequate health care coverage in the 
        United States, health centers under section 330 of the Public 
        Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 254b), including community health 
        centers, are increasingly called upon to provide care to the 
        uninsured and underinsured.
            (2) These health centers are being challenged by increasing 
        financial pressures that jeopardize their ability to provide 
        access to health services for a number of large medically 
        underserved populations, including the elderly, the uninsured, 
        and lower-income individuals.
            (3) Granting volunteer physician liability coverage through 
        the program under section 224(g) of the Public Health Service 
        Act (relating to the provisions of title 28, United States 
        Code, that are commonly referred to as the Federal Tort Claims 
        Act) (42 U.S.C. 233(g)) would significantly increase the number 
        of physicians available onsite at such health centers. Federal 
        studies have concluded that by offering liability coverage, 
        such centers are able to redirect funds to recruit full-time 
        physicians and provide needed health care services to their 
        communities.
            (4) In addition, an increase in volunteer physicians at the 
        health centers will result in a direct improvement in the 
        ability of the centers to offer quality health care services 
        where the services are needed most.

SEC. 3. HEALTH CENTERS UNDER PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE ACT; LIABILITY 
              PROTECTIONS FOR VOLUNTEER PRACTITIONERS.

    (a) In General.--Section 224 of the Public Health Service Act (42 
U.S.C. 233) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (g)(1)(A)--
                    (A) in the first sentence, by striking ``or 
                employee'' and inserting ``employee, or (subject to 
                subsection (k)(4)) volunteer practitioner''; and
                    (B) in the second sentence, by inserting ``and 
                subsection (k)(4)'' after ``subject to paragraph (5)''; 
                and
            (2) in each of subsections (g), (i), (j), (k), (l), and 
        (m), by striking ``employee, or contractor'' each place such 
        term appears and inserting ``employee, volunteer practitioner, 
        or contractor''.
    (b) Applicability; Definition.--Section 224(k) of the Public Health 
Service Act (42 U.S.C. 233(k)) is amended by adding at the end the 
following paragraph:
    ``(4)(A) Subsections (g) through (m) apply with respect to 
volunteer practitioners beginning with the first fiscal year for which 
an appropriations Act provides that amounts in the fund under paragraph 
(2) are available with respect to such practitioners.
    ``(B) For purposes of subsections (g) through (m), the term 
`volunteer practitioner' means a practitioner who, with respect to an 
entity described in subsection (g)(4), meets the following conditions:
            ``(i) The practitioner is a licensed physician or a 
        licensed clinical psychologist.
            ``(ii) At the request of such entity, the practitioner 
        provides services to patients of the entity, at a site at which 
        the entity operates or at a site designated by the entity. The 
        weekly number of hours of services provided to the patients by 
        the practitioner is not a factor with respect to meeting 
        conditions under this subparagraph.
            ``(iii) The practitioner does not for the provision of such 
        services receive any compensation from such patients, from the 
        entity, or from third-party payors (including reimbursement 
        under any insurance policy or health plan, or under any Federal 
        or State health benefits program).''.

SEC. 4. STUDY ON ADEQUACY OF FUNDING FOR COVERAGE.

    (a) Study.--The Comptroller General of the United States shall 
conduct a study concerning the adequacy of funding for liability 
coverage through the program under section 224(g) of the Public Health 
Service Act (relating to the provisions of title 28, United States 
Code, that are commonly referred to as the Federal Tort Claims Act) (42 
U.S.C. 233(g)) for--
            (1) public or nonprofit private entities receiving Federal 
        funds for health centers under section 330 of such Act (42 
        U.S.C. 254b); and
            (2) volunteer practitioners serving such health centers.
    (b) Report.--Not later than 6 months after the date of enactment of 
this Act, the Comptroller General of the United States shall prepare 
and submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a report 
containing findings and recommendations from the study conducted under 
subsection (a), including recommendations concerning the adequacy of 
the funding described in subsection (a).
                                 <all>